Repealed
by UntalentedArtist
Summary: The unpopular marriage law is repealed. Who annuls their marriage? Who stays with their spouse? After three years of forced marriage, freedom is waiting for many wizards and witches... heartbreak for others.  Pairing will change every chapter.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Owned by the lovely and talented JK Rowling. I'm just taking her characters on a romp.

(AU, as I've left many alive to torment for this fic. Except Cedric. Sorry, Cho.)

(O)

**MINISTER WEASLEY ABOLISHES MARRIAGE LAW**

_After three years of being forced into marriages that many would not have chosen for themselves, our new Minister has seen fit to turn society arse-over-teakettle and allow No Questions No Wait No Fee Annulments to any witch or wizard seeking to erase their Ministry sponsored (we wanted to write forced but were told that we were being bad sports) nuptials._

_The NQNWNFA Office will begin operations on next Wednesday. That's right, you have less than a week to try to win over the spouse you've been neglecting. You have less than a week to prove to everyone that your marriage wasn't a sham and that you would now choose your current spouse if you had to do it all again. Less than a week before you can whip off that stupid wedding ring and loOoOoOove the one you love. Less than one week before you can finally marry the witch or wizard you would have chosen had the previous administration respected free will in any form._

_Good job, Minister Percy Weasley! You've come a long way from being a boot-licking prat!_

_-G&G_

(O)

The news went over about as well as veggie burgers at biker rally in some homes. In others, it was juicy steak in a lion's den.

The home of Severus Snape and his wife was feasting on steak tonight.

Severus wasn't a cruel man once he had been forced to marry, at least, not to his "beloved" wife. He was merely neglectful and cold. He never could stomach the idea of consummating this charade with a woman he still saw as a child. He wanted to work on his potions and teach his students, not play house. He suspected that he was largely asexual. He had seen her nude, and it aroused naught but indifference. Maybe it was just that his wife was so damn annoying that he had no desire for her.

Not that she had done anything in the past three years to encourage the older man. She had merely spent the moderate allowance he gave her on petty trifles and spent her time internally bemoaning the Anti-Infidelity Wedding Ring that she had been forced to wear during her whole marriage. Snape didn't need to be a mind reader to know why she looked at her left hand forlornly so often.

_Probably still lusting after that idiotic red-head._

No, he was not at all upset to be rid of his weasel-obsessed fool of a wife.

(O)

Lavender Snape was staring at her wedding band again as she wondered how to convince her husband of three years that he should take her to the NQNWNFA Office RIGHT NOW so that they would be at the front of the line.

_That's the problem, isn't it? He'll want to throw me on the streets. Too bad I'm not the idiot he thinks I am._

She fingered her Gringotts vault key. She was a Pureblood witch with a dowry that had been given to her husband promptly upon marriage. In the case of annulment, the money and goods in her dowry would revert back to her father. It was common for a husband to wait a thirty day grace period before spending that money, as they would be safe from an annulment. Thirty one days on was divorce territory, and while it may look reckless and create some tut-tutting among high society witches, a man could not be legally faulted for using every last knut his bride brought to the proverbial family table. Some more ruthless men had gone through thirty one days of marriage to wealthy witches, spent everything in the vault or merely transferred the funds, and then Imperius'd their blushing bride into infidelity. No court denied divorce for bridal infidelity in the wizarding world.

What was it Hermione called it? Slut shaming?

Either way, Snape would be flabbergasted when she showed how much money she had managed to hide away right under his nose in a mere three years. She didn't know how much, if any, of her dowry had been spent by Snape. She secretly hoped that it was everything and that the bastard would spend his life in debt to her father.

Lavender Snape, soon to gloriously regain her standing as a Brown, was nobodies fool. A large portion of her "vapid little letters" were star charts and predictions she would send to clients. While she wasn't a full-fledged Seer, she had a knack for Divination that many did not, and she knew to capitalize on it.

Her pitiful allowance (was she twelve?) went mainly into savings. Snape had a house elf that did most of the shopping for the basics needed for the home. Snape knew the cost of every potions ingredient in every market around the world, but had no clue what a loaf of bread cost at the local bakery. So when Lavender came home with small trinkets to try and put her mark on the home, (a fifteen sickle statue here, a ten galleon painting there) he grossly over-estimated the amount she spent and rolled his eyes like a condescending arse. He seemed to think that she spent everything on shoes, clothes, and stupid useless crap.

She wasn't about to tell him that her weight was a constant battle. That thanks to her aversion to the long term effects of weight potions she had to watch what she ate and maintain her physical strength the muggle way: exercise. After the DA, she had grown to respect her body. She worked hard to be able to dodge spells of ill intent, and she couldn't do that nearly as effectively if she wasn't at a healthy weight. Her body, however, LIKED being plump. When depressed (like, say, the first months of her marriage) she had gained weight more than she ever had before. Sure, she could cast a glamour to make herself LOOK thinner, but she wouldn't BE thinner.

She had needed clothing that fit her larger proportions. Ready-to-wear garments had spells woven in that prevented any truly effective charms or transfigurations from taking hold. If you weren't handy with a needle and thread, your clothing would stay just as it was when purchased. She understood the point (why buy new clothes if all you had to do was transfigure your old ones, or turn Aunt Wildernere's sweater into a gorgeous chic outfit?) but that didn't mean she liked it. So she had gone on a bit of a shopping spree (three pairs of pants, seven blouses, a dress, and two skirts) and from that point on, Snape had his mind made up about Lavender.

She was a proud young woman and she decided that he could go to his grave thinking her a shallow fool rather than informing him that their marriage had made her lose the will to live for months. She wasn't so cruel as to tell him that marrying him was a fate worse than fighting Voldemort. Fighting Voldemort had galvanized her while marrying Snape had broken her.

But that didn't mean she liked the git, just that she wasn't a vindictive little girl willing to shatter a man over something that he had no say in.

So she held her key in her hand like a talisman as she walked to his study. She was more than ready to tell her husband where to shove it.

(O)

"...up your arse!"

Lavender was finished. In her three years of marriage to the greasy bastard, she had never thrown a tantrum. For her to lay her rage on the table for him was a shock. He had fully expected for them to quietly go to the NQNWNFA Office on Wednesday, patiently continuing on with his six remaining days of captivity, and then never speak to his "wife" again. His eyebrows raised nearer to his hairline than Lavender had thought possible.

"I take it that this has not been a happy marriage." Snape's mouth twitched slightly. She had surprised him, and after three years with the girl, he had thought her nothing more than an empty-headed fool. But to have saved twenty thousand galleons right under his nose with her own business... He had been wrong about her. "I was wrong about you."

"Damn right you were, you slimy old bat. You- wait. Did you just admit that you were wrong?"

Snape drawled slowly, "Do I need to take you to St. Mungo's to get your hearing checked, wife? You are still my responsibility for six days, it wouldn't do to neglect you now." He wasn't smiling, but he seemed entertained.

Lavender scrunched her nose at him slightly, her head tilting a few degrees. This was one of the longest back and forth conversations they had ever had, once they had laid down the ground rules for their marriage. And he wasn't treating her like a leperous house elf. "I am sure that I will be fine, almost-ex-husband. A temporary flaw in cognition, not in my physical being." She bobbed a sarcastic curtesy, pocketed her key, and smiled victoriously. She turned on her heel to leave the study when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Madam, I have a proposition for you." At her cringe of disgust, Snape realized what she must have assumed he meant. "Not that kind. You have been safe from that nonsense for three years, now is no time to begin harassing you or making demands upon you."

She relaxed and nodded. "Continue?"

"I would like to spend the next six days doing what we should have done the first six days of our marriage. Getting to know one another, spending time together, and finding common ground. At the end of the week, we can decide to part ways with no hard feelin-"

"Or we can wait a few more days to decide, as the office will likely be up and running for a few weeks to accommodate the load. Or we can take a chance and not annul if we decide that we should take a leap of faith, leaving ourselves open to merely divorcing later."

"Or growing old together," Snape said. And in that moment, Lavender held more affection for him than she had in their previous three years combined.

"That would be acceptable, if it turns out we can stand one another."

They nodded resolutely at the same time, and Lavender turned to face him. He motioned to a soft looking leather sofa near a roaring fireplace and they sat together.

Throughout the night, they spoke of everything. They aired their grievances. They spoke of their dreams. And as the sun began easing it's soft rays to welcome the dawn, Severus lifted his sleeping wife and carried her to bed. He didn't kiss her, though. After all, it wouldn't be polite to rush things with the woman he had been married to for three years.


	2. Chapter 2

The death of Narcissa Malfoy was enough to send Lucius Malfoy to the bottle. Multiple bottles, to be more precise. Dreamless Sleep, Firewhiskey, and the occasional Calming Draught. It wasn't enough for Lucius to have his son. A son is a wonderful thing, but the love of your life is something else entirely. He tried to drown himself in one of the lesser-used bathtubs, but one of his bastard elves saved his pitiful life.

Three weeks after his darling bride was interred in the Malfoy family crypt, a letter had arrived from the Ministry of Magic. The damned marriage law... Three weeks? Were three weeks really all that the Minister and his lackeys were willing to give a grieving widower? It turned out that they weren't quite that cruel.

In the end, he was given five weeks to marry some little chit he'd never met.

(O)

Now, three years later, Lucius could annul his marriage to the chit. He could Apparate her to the NQNWNFA office, probably before office hours officially began if he threw a bit of his weight around, and chalk the last three years up to a bad dream. After all, hadn't most of his adult years been a bad dream? What were three more years?

(O)

Parvati Malfoy sat in a small bedroom at the south side of Malfoy Manor, brushing her hair gently and slowly. Lucius had offered her a much larger suite, and had in fact turned up his nose (quite literally) when she chose a modest room for her things. No matter what Parvati told him over the years about not needing to have a large private space ("A bedroom is for sleeping and storing clothing, Lucius.") he wasn't used to Parvati's preferences. Parvati had chosen this bedroom for the splendid view of the grounds, _and _for the perk of being rather far away from Draco's suite.

The bedroom was rarely used, anyway. Most nights she spent curled up with Lucius, drooling on his shoulder. It was, in essence, a place for her to store clothing, and to get dressed and ready for parties where he wouldn't ruin the surprise. Since the Daily Prophet ran it's article announcing the repeal of the marriage law and the option for NQNWNFAs, Parvati simply sat in her room, hiding.

If he didn't want her anymore, what could she do? Her "Society Darling" status was only due to the ring on her finger. She doubted that her new friends would come to tea with her in a tiny flat above a shop in Diagon Alley. But that wasn't what she was concerned about.

The real concern was her husband. Her husband was, no matter his noble bearing and many titles, a follower at heart. Everyone who thought they knew Lucius Malfoy missed the crucial detail that all of his machinations and plots had always been for the glory of another. First, his father. Then, his wife. Then Draco and Voldemort and Narcissa. He was powerful for the sake of others, always. And if he thought that it would make Draco happy, he would annul his marriage. Even though he ran his fingers through her hair late at night. Even though he kissed her neck and whispered that she had saved him. Even though he grabbed her hips and whispered her name as though it were a prayer.

She was hoping that distancing herself from her eventually-beloved husband would make it hurt less when he gave her the bad news.

(O)

Draco sat with his father in the large, oppulent sun room. The idea that his father might annul his marriage with his stepmother should make him happy. She was too young. She was a Gryffindor from his year. She wasn't his mother.

But she was patient and warm and loved Lucius. Wasn't that all that mattered? Even if Draco had, once upon a time, hexed her in the back like a coward?

Draco had an uncharacteristic flash of altruism and took a sip of his pumpkin juice, before slowly drawling, "I hope you don't make the mistake of annulling your marriage."

Lucius, for his part, was positively stunned. Draco had made no bones about the dislike he had for the entire stupid marriage situation, including his own marriage. Here was his son, who had been one of the loudest detractors of the marriage act, telling him to stay married to a Gryffindor that had been his schoolmate?

"Draco, my dear boy, have you been experimenting with illicit potions?"

"Not recently enough that it would change my opinion, father. _Dad. _This has been good for you. All nonsense aside, she's helped you deal with your grief, given you patience and understanding, and if the sudden change to 'waking up late' and 'heading to bed early' is any indication, you two haven't exactly been like Snape and Snapette. You care about her. Do you really think I'd want you to lose two happy marriages in 3 years?"

"Thank you." For Lucius and Draco, that was an exhausting amount of talking about emotions. It would last them a few years.

(O)

Lucius finished breakfast with his son, and left to knock on Parvati's door. She threw it open almost instantly, as usual, and not for the first time, he wondered if she had house elf spies.

She smiled at him shyly, and Lucius was instantly upset at himself for not speaking to her earlier. She hadn't been shy with him since the day of their wedding. He pulled her close, folding her into his arms. Parvati relaxed into him, melting onto his chest. "Good morning, lovely. Care for a walk?" The pair separated just enough to look at one another, and the smile on his face was met with a small parting of her dark-coffee lips to show a glimpse of perfect teeth.

(O)

After saving his father's marriage, Draco strolled to the guest house that he ostensibly shared with his wife, a smug smile on his face. Draco, unlike his father, took no comfort from being married to his pre-determined paperwork bride. He would be first on line at the Annulment office on Wednesday, probably right next to his mentor Snape, and he'd ditch his baggage.

"Tonks!" The yell held no warmth, and as it was the name she preferred, it was at least not blatantly hostile any time he yelled for her. Their marriage was a business transaction, and they had been biding their time the past three years.

She popped her head out from the library, a smile on her face. "Wotcher, Draco! Wonderful news this morning, isn't it?" The happiness in her eyes was genuine, and Draco smiled back. Even if romance hadn't blossomed, tolerance and a decent enough rapport had formed in the first few months of their marriage. They were good roommates, and if they ignored the fact that they hated being married to one another, they were decent enough friends.

"Can't imagine anything better than getting rid of my ball and chain. Does Woofykins know?" It was no secret that Tonks and Lupin were in love. For the past three years, adoring letters and whispering floo calls kept the werewolf and the metamorphmagus in a closer relationship than Tonks and Draco's marriage.

She held up a letter. "He owled a few minutes ago." She bounced a bit on her heels, waiting for Draco to ask what he had said.

"I'll play. What did the old lech have to say?"

"We're getting married on Thursday!"

Draco blinked. "He proposed?" The laugh bubbled up inside, and spilled out into the foyer. "That's wonderful!" Draco held his arms open and Tonks ran into them, and they spun around together like happy children. "Not exactly flattering that you're getting married to a broke werewolf the day after our marriage ends, though."

Tonks punched him lightly on the arm, still grinning like mad. "Your ego isn't my concern. Never has been."

"Good thing you've been too much of a stubborn martyr to get yourself pregnant."

"Admit it, you think it's gross that we're so closely related, too. The Ministry is disgusting. Er, was, I suppose. The new administration isn't so bad, all things considered. But I've got weird enough traits as is without dipping into the shallow end of the gene pool."

"Fair play. Well, it was nice having a roommate for a few years. But you're being evicted. Out you go, on your arse, don't let the floo burn you on the way out, et cetera. You have until... well, until it's convenient. I'm not that cruel."

They began walking together, letting the silent happiness reign. With Tonks around, that never lasted long.

"Draco? I've got a huge favor to ask you, while I'm still in a position to be asking favors."

"Six days left and you want my money." Draco shook his head in mock sadness.

"No!" Tonks was always affronted when Draco implied that she was an expensive wife. She had a damn good job! She (stubbornly) paid rent! "I wanted to know if you would... Well, will you come to my wedding? And be my Man of Honor?"

There was nothing that could have surprised Draco more. "Are you serious?"

"No, I'm Tonks, Sirius is my uncle. Of COURSE I want you to be an important part of my wedding. I hope you'll still be an important part of my life, even when you have no reason to keep me around."

For a moment, Draco's heart swelled with familial affection, and pride. He had come a long way for someone as good and decent as Tonks to value him. His tone turned more subdued, and he nodded. "You'll always be my favorite cousin. Merlin willing you'll be my least-favorite wife, but you'll always be my first wife. That has to count for something."

When Tonks hugged Draco again, he mused that this was his most sentimental day ever.


End file.
